Hinge horrors cause pram rethink

Sun-Herald senior writer

Toddlers getting their fingers crushed in stroller folding hinges and falling from detachable pram seats have prompted an Australian Competition and Consumer Commission crackdown on pram and stroller safety.

The consumer watchdog is particularly concerned about toddler seats that can be attached to single prams after the birth of a second child. Children have fallen out of these unstable seats, while others sitting in toddler seats too low to the ground have caught their fingers in the spokes of pram wheels.

Parents need to be so much more wary about the pram they're buying.

The ACCC has received 163 reports of pram-related injuries since January 1, 2010. Forty per cent of these involve fingers being trapped in pram folding hinges.

Sydney toddler Cael Barton lost his fingertip earlier this year when it was caught in the hinge of a $500 Maclaren stroller.

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However, hospital emergency department figures show there are many more children involved in pram accidents.

There are more than 150 pram- related incidents each year in both Victoria and Queensland. More than three-quarters of these involve children aged one year or younger.

''Issues have arisen over recent years involving toddler seats and we have been working with others to address this,'' an ACCC spokesman said.

To address pram stability issues and the risks posed by folding hinges, the regulator has updated the voluntary safety standard for prams and strollers, including the introduction of a new stability test for toddler platforms.

The ACCC said it has prioritised its review of the five-year-old mandatory standard - which all prams sold in Australia must meet - to take into account the new voluntary standard requirements.

Ninety per cent of pram accidents recorded by hospital emergency departments are due to children falling from the pram, according to the Queensland Centre for Accident Research and Pram Safety. Getting a finger caught in the pram is the second most common incident.

Cael's mother, Gloria Barton, said it was a ''positive'' that the ACCC was doing more to improve pram safety.

''Parents need to be so much more wary about the pram they're buying and not assume that because it's expensive or a known brand it's safe,'' she said.

The Maclaren stroller that injured Cael was recalled in the US after 17 children had their fingers cut off in the folding hinges.

The prams weren't recalled in Australia but the ACCC posted a notice on its product recall site, Maclaren distributor CNP Brands ran an awareness campaign and free hinge covers were made available.

Since Cael's accident in March, the ACCC has identified 83,179 faulty Maclaren prams that are still in circulation in Australia. Of these, 31,671 have had the hinge problem fixed.